CPR

C.P.R.

By Paige Nienaber

CPR Promotional Check-Up - Jan 9, 2012

January 9, 2012

Slut Or Nut

"Hot Or Not" was one of those flash-in-the-pan TV shows that was oddly close to a morning show bit that's been floating around since about the time we all got websites. But since everyone has already done the tame version of it, why not do "Slut Or Nut"? Post the picture of someone's ex on your website, get the submitter on to regale us with the story of their breakup, and then have your audience log-on to vote on whether the person was a slut, or simply a nut.

Urban Legends & Old Wives Tales

And don't forget: stuff that your parents would scare you with. Like, putting on clean underwear because you might be in an accident and they'd be embarrassed when the doctor came up to them in the ER and said "Are you the parents of the kid in dirty underwear?" True story: my last promotion as Marketing Director at Wild in SFO, I was taking winners to a concert and the brakes on the limo failed and we went under a semi in heavy traffic in the East Bay. I broke nine ribs. In the ER, heavily narc'ed up, the one thought that kept flashing through my head was, "Did I put on clean underwear this morning." Now that I've planted that mental thought...

There are so many Urban Legends and Old Wives Tales that it's one of those universals that all your listeners have come in contact with. Wild in Tampa did an Urban Legend Debunking Morning Show a couple of years ago and had people cross their eyes for ten minutes, eat a box of Pop Rocks and then drink a Pepsi and other things that people had been warned not to do. Funny bit. Steal it. But, as in all things post-Sacramento, with many of these, please please please talk to a doctor before hand. Just clear it. Make sure you don't actually have a listeners head explode from Pop Rocks and Pepsi.

The Backstage Broadcast

I was at a station concert last summer. Like the rest of you, hanging backstage for me has become just another part of the gig. That's how freakin' desensitized we get in Radio. Out front, fans were crammed against the fence, trying to get a peek behind the stage to spot the artists.

If you're going to do a backstage broadcast, put it on the screen so everyone can see. Hiding in a tent back amidst the busses and trucks doesn't do any good. Dress it up. Have some comfy chairs, hang tapestries, maybe have some lava lamps. This is what people expect the backstage area to look like. Thank God they can't actually see the reality.

Paige Nienaber is VP/Fun 'N Games for Clifton Radio and C.P.R. Between the two entities he promotional-consults over 50 stations across the U.S. and Canada. He writes a daily promotions/marketing piece for AllAccess.com and his own website is www.cpr-promotions.com. Paige's hobbies are playing with guns in the quiet and darkness of his room at night, Brazilian Exchange Students, and C. Thomas Howell movies.